Continuity plans ignore most important asset

UK organisations are failing to protect their staff by not preparing for major disruptions, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has warned.

The 2005 Business Continuity Management Survey uncovered alarming inactivity, with organisations ignoring threats to their business, neglecting the needs of their managers, and not communicating plans with employees, the CMI said.

As well as ignoring threats to areas such as IT, many business continuity plans ignore an organisation’s key asset – employees.The research shows that despite an increase in incidents relating to loss of people (up to 41% from 25%) and skills (up to 28% from 20% ) in the past 12 months, only a handful of business continuity plans cover staff issues.

Mary Chapman, chief executive of the CMI, said: “It’s a concern that many organisations still fall short when it comes to implemen-ting thorough business continuity management strategies.

“But, the rising awareness of corporate governance responsibilities should ensure managers focus on the impact and cost that the loss of staff and services can have.”